For me, one of the many signs of being a proper "grown-up" is booking, paying for and going on a holiday by yourself (with partner if applicable) without family (and by that I mean "parents") in tow. I've done this a couple of times -- my trip to PAX East in 2010 was one, although despite this being an amazing experience I will forever think of that as The Prelude to the Absolute Worst Ever Year of My Life -- and I've just booked a long weekend away for my partner Andie's 30th this November.

We're not going anywhere mega-fancy, just to a forest-based "holiday village" called Center Parcs, which features self-catered apartments and villas and the most amazing swimming pool (sorry, "Subtropical Swimming Paradise") in the universe.

I've not been to Center Parcs since I was about 15 years of age, when I went with my parents and my then-best-friend from school and we had a blast. I've been wanting to go back ever since. Looking forward to it!

I've always wanted to go on a nice holiday with my wife. The money and free time have just never been able to come together and make it happen. My wife is from Canada, and we live with my family in the US, so any time we can scrape together afew extra dollars and afew days off, we inevitably make the 7-8 hour trip up to Ontario to visit her family and friends. Though I'm more than happy to make the journey, it can be a tad frustrating, as "quality time with the in-laws" is no vacation by my standard. This year, we can't even afford to make that trek - so during my vacation time (which is next week actually), we'll just be staying home, sleeping in, baking together, and taking afew small day trips. "Staycations" can be nice, low-stress scenarios, which I'm grateful for . . . but boy do I just want to get away from society to some lodge in the woods or something to decompress. Oh well. There's always next year.

I hope that you have fun on your trip. That place you're headed to sounds pleasant. Is the food good? That's what I care about most when choosing a destination.

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Since 2005, the Squadron of Shame has been embedded at the vanguard of underappreciated, obscure and noteworthy videogames.